Only Sam
by Bailey Lanier
Summary: One- Shot  Sam always gets what she wants.  Takes place the summer after the big bon-fire.  Pretty Please Review!
1. Chapter 1

"Only Sam would be laughing after being thrown into a manure heap." chuckled Wyatt.

Standing at the Ely's sliding glass door had proved it self hilarious. Or rather, watching Sam and Jake banter as if they were seven and nine, not fifteen and seventeen.

All Jake's brother's, his parents, and all the Foresters stood watching them, like the peeping tom's they were. They were all having a good time, too. Brian had even popped some popcorn in anticipation of what was to come.

"No, only _Sam_ would be getting herself thrown into a manure heap." Maxine, Jake's mother, corrected.

"Yeah, that's true." agreed Brian.

"Then again," countered Quinn, "Only Jake would be brave enough to throw her there."

"Yeah, or dumb enough." Laughed Luke.

Shortly after it left Luke's mouth everyone either nodded their heads, or burst out laughing.

Jake and Sam had recently started dating, and to say it was the talk of the town would be the world's biggest understatement. However, them seeing more of each other obviously wasn't the best idea, what with Sam getting herself thrown it to the manure heap next to the Ely's barn.

It had all started when Sam had been teasing Jake about being " As moody as that dinosaur, he called his mare". And it hadn't been a lie. When it came to her safety, Jake wasn't just protective, he was over protective. And, as she'd recently discovered, he didn't seem to like her conversing with other guys. In fact, he'd given a piece of his mind to several guys at school who had been looking a little too closely at her.

It always amazed her how people like jake could accomplish so much with so few words. _ Maybe it's his hight_, Sam thought.

Obviously, Sam had teased him just enough to get what she wanted. Sure, she got thrown into a manure heap, but she took Jake with her.


	2. Names

I got this idea when I started looking at name meanings, and couldn't help myself - I HAD to write.

Sorry if I copied anyone's title, it just fit.

Samantha = Listener

Sam = God heard

Sammi = God heard

**THE IMPORTANCE OF NAMES**

"Just GO, you whiny baby", an impatient 13 year old Jake Ely yelled. He could see that she was hurt by his name calling, but that was the way he'd wanted it. Little did he know how much those words actually did hurt. Little did he know how much those words would haunt him...for the rest of his life. Little did he know what those words were about to cost.

Samantha, nudged her young black stallion through the gate, blinded by hurt, and a sudden- overwhelming desire to prove her self to the young Ely. She didn't notice the sudden gust of wind that rattled the gate and sent her beautiful Blackie into a full gallop the other way. Samantha heard Jake shouting instructions, and tried to do what he said, when she accidentally tuned him out and when with her instincts. Blackie was still spooked and running blind. She knew Jake wouldn't follow - why would he?- hadn't he just called her a baby and gotten mad when she tagged along on his ride?

She couldn't dwell on that right now, she'd lost a rein, and she knew if she ever wanted to stop her beautiful stallion, she had to get the rein back. She reached up, but didn't for see a little faux paws. Blackie spooked at the sudden sight of her reaching hand, and threw poor Samantha off balance and sending her to the ground. But, Samantha's luck hadn't changed, his hoof struck her head. It left her in darkness.

"SAM! Sam...that's it. Open your eyes. That a girl", Jake talked more to himself that the half dead girl laying in the dust of the _Playa_.

"Jake", was her weak reply. She was loosing blood, and Jake knew he had to do something, but he just didn't feel right leaving her out her, all alone. He spoke soothingly to her, like he would a spooked, injured horse.

"Sam, I need to go get Wyatt. I'll be right back. Okay? Just hang in there," and then he added something- almost in guilty repentance, trying to make up for what he said earlier, something he felt she needed to hear before she died, "Cowgirl."

"Don't leave...Jake." It was a simply sentence, yet it still tore Jake's heart in two.

I'll be right back, I promise." he knew what he needed to do, that didn't make it easier on either of the youngsters.

"Pinky promise?" This sure was a time for a _pinky promise_, Jake thought. But, he also felt obligated to make her happy. Jake took her hand, and wrapped his pinky, tan and thick, around her pale, thin one.

Then without another word, he bounded aboard his horse and practically flew to River Bend to find Wyatt - he would know what to do.

As he faded into the distance, guilt and grief at what he'd just caused did everything but overwhelm him. It filled his body and soul, crept into even his heart. As his horse galloped for River bend, he let a few tears streak down his tan, angled face. He felt he should to do something to make up for his crime, so he did the only thing he could think of. He prayed. He prayed that if someone was going to die that day, that it should be him instead of his Samantha. He was one of six, she was one of one.

He didn't want to die, but would rather he did than Sam. So, he decided to try and make a bargain. If God kept her alive, Jake would do everything in his power, even if it cost him his life, to keep Sam safe from now on. For the rest of their lives. He knew it was a huge responsibility, but better that than losing Sam.

he prayed, live he never prayed before. And he hoped with every fiber of his being that God was as good a listener as Sam was. If only she hadn't listened to him.

He found Wyatt and they rode back in his truck. Wyatt drove like there was no speed limit. Jake could tell Wyatt was scared. Just as scared as he was.

"There she is!" Jake shouted, and Wyatt slammed on the braked and threw it in park so fast that their faces would have hit the dashboard if both of them weren't half way out of the truck. They rushed to her, and Wyatt carefully scooped her up in his arms, and Jake opened the back door so that Wyatt could lay her inside. Once She was in, Wyatt jumped into the driver's seat, and Jake bounded into the back, and drove the whole 45 minutes to the hospital with Sam's bleeding head on his lap. He noticed that her auburn hair, beautiful and wavy, was now matted and sticky with blood. She looked so small and fragile, it broke his heart.

Once they got to the hospital, it was all a blur for Jake. Wyatt was on the phone most of the time, witch gave Jake plenty of time to pray. Sam was in surgery, Jake hated the sound of that, and he prolly listened to Wyatt telling it to the neighbors a dozen times. Every time, it made Jake sick to his stomache. She was too young to die, wasn't she?

It was only a matter of about 10 minutes before family and friends started showing up at the hospital. There was Ann, one of Sam's friends from school, and her family; Sam's grandmother; Dallas, the ranch foreman; Clara and Milly, from the diner; the rest of Jake's family, except Kit; and, oddly enough, the Jed, Lila, and Jen Kenworthy, who barely even knew Sam.

All of them filled the waiting room, and a few kept stepping out for air. Jake knew if was more then air they needed, they needed to cry. Sam was a beloved part of their little town that everyone loved. It had been the same with her mother, Louise.

Any and everyone she met loved her. It was just her gift, Jake figured.

What had he done? It was his fault! All his fault. it was because of him she rushed the gate, and because of him all these people were here. It was his own fault at seeing men that he had thought never cried, cry like babies. Wyatt, his dad, his brothers mostly. Jake himself, like he swore he wouldn't, even cried a little for his best friend.

And most of all, it was his fault that Sam was hurt the way she was. How could he have done this? He had caused all this pain. All of it. All of it was his fault.

Why did he have to be so stupid ?, he wondered.

Finally, the doctor came out and announced that she would be okay. The doctor, a man with laugh lines and crows feet around his eyes, a man Jake guessed to be in his mid-fourties, was still in his scrubs, and looked extremely tired. He was covered in blood.

Her blood, Jake thought.

"She'll need to stay in the hospital until she comes out of the coma, the when she wakes up, another two weeks to recover. She should be fine, though. But...keep praying, God hears you."

And the doctor was right, God did hear them. Within two weeks, Sam woke up.

When she had, Jake had been the first person she'd asked for. Jake was sorta glad she did, but mostly nervous at whether she would hate him or not. She hadn't.

In fact, she was really glad to see him. One of the first things Jake did when he saw her was apologize. Sam -anyone with eyes- could tell how guilty he felt. She had asked how Blakie was, though,and Jake couldn't tell her. she'd gotten a little angry then. Angry that he's cared more about her than her precious horse. Angry that he'd ridden for Wyatt rather than after her horse. At first, Jake had gotten a little angry, too. Thinking that, given the circumstances, he'd done the right thing. However it wasn't long before he'd found it amusing. Jake stopped by the hospital everyday, school day or not, and he always brought something to keep her entertained. He could tell she was getting bored to death in that hospital room. He brought board gamed, movies, cards, old copies of Horse Illustrated, anything he thought would help. Though Sam was getting better, Jake's guilt did not. When he wasn't around her, he thought about her, and when he wasn't thinking about her, he was dreaming-over and over- replaying the accident in his sleep. Jake's brothers, who loved Sam like the sister they never had, didn't bother teasing Jake. In fact, they tried to help out any way they could. Adam of Nate would drive him to the hospital, and loan him some games. Brian and Quinn would do some of his chores while he was at the hospital, or even tag along once in a while. His parents drove him on the days no one else could, plus, they hadn't been too strict about his chores, lately. So, all in all, Jake kinda felt like things were getting better. His guilt still weighed heavily on him, and the odd thing was, the only time he didn't feel guilty was when he was around Sam and Witch.

Witch had become almost a safe haven for Jake. She knew how to take his mind off his own problems, usually when she was fussing about her own.

Though, sometimes, she knew he needed a friend, not a distraction. So, she tried with all her might to be good, and still gave Jake a little bit of a hard time. Jake could tell the effort she put into being good, and appreciated it. Sometimes, he could only handle so much.

Samantha was getting to one of those stages where she never stopped with the questions. It was worse when she had nothing to do all day but sit around all day, pity herself, and think of more questions.

"What does my name mean, Jake?"

"How'd you expect me to know?" When she looked a little disappointed at his answer, he felt just that much guiltier. So, he decided, for whatever it was worth, he'd do her a favor.

"I'll look it up when I get home, and tell ya tomorrow. how 'bout that?" he asked.

"Okay...Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"What's your name mean?" Man! He didn't know that one either. Oh, well.

"I'll look that one up when I get home, too." H

Jake just couldn't help but smile at her crazy, random questions.

"Hey Mom?" Jake softly asked his mother.

"What?" Maxine always had to make a extra effort to hear her youngest son.

"What does Sam's name mean?, he paused, She asked earlier today and I didn't know what to tell her."

"You know, Jake. I'm just not sure. But, we can look it up on the computer. Come on!"

Great, Jake thought, now I got her excited about this. He sighed, before he knew it maxine would research the names of everyone they knew. Then she would use them as ice-breakers later on. Yep. Just great.

It wasn't long before they had researched her name.

Samantha meant "Listener" and "Listener of God"

Sam, her most common nickname, meant "God Hears"

Sammi, what would later become his special name for her (besides Brat) meant "God Heard".

All those names seemed to fit into place perfectly.

Samantha/Listener for when he'd listened to him whether than using her own good judgement.

Sam/God Hears for when they had all sat in that waiting room waiting for the doctor.

They were all hoping that God would hear their prayers.

Sammi/ God Heard...because, that day, God did hear. God heard the plea of a young boy, single father, aging grandmother, and neighbors galore.

It all fit. Perfectly. It was as simple as a name.

_Please Review_

Sorry! I made it a lot shorter than I planed. I just found time to finish this today, though I didn't get to work with my horse.

But, he needed a break today anyway.

There just aren't enough hours in the day. Alright. I'm going to go write at least one song-fic that was a request.(keeping you guys on you're toes)

I'm still not taking requests, though. I still have seven song-fics that ARE requests to finish up. Let alone the songs I listed.

Alrighty! That's a wrap, folks.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Phantom Stallion series or any of the people...but I might steal Jake, though. (Don't tell Terri )


End file.
